Rehearsal clip in viewing (May 2021)
Song of the Female Textile Workers is now well underway, powering through the rehearsal stage. On 27th May 2021, stage@leeds hosted an online rehearsal live streaming WANG Rousang performing at Shanghai Yue Opera House. The filmed footage, which features a clip of Act 3, Transformation of Butterfly (化蝶) shows Rousang performing her own choreographed Chinese opera dance with the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, and will feature as the finale to the performance.
The creation process has been developed entirely online. This is the first time that a rehearsal footage has been shown to the audience across UK and China. Following concerns around censorship, recorded footage from a closed rehearsal, conducted by our Chinese partners in April, was presented to a panel from the Chinese Cultural Bureau. Our partners Shanghai Yue Opera House have reported that the Cultural Bureau were satisfied with the content and were delighted to announce that the performance has been cleared to continue its development. The clip will be made available from 1100am on Thursday 27th May 2021 and can be viewed at stage@leeds webpage. More information visit stage@leeds webpage: https://stage.leeds.ac.uk/events/song-of-the-female-textile-workers-in-rehearsal-may-2021/
We will hold a Discussion Event on 4th June 2021 from 11am and all were welcome to join us, whether they had viewed the rehearsal or not. The event was free and places could be booked through the stage@leeds booking site. The panel includes the UK and China creation team, including star performer WANG Rousang, and the discussion was chaired by Dr. Joslin McKinney, Associate Professor in Scenography from School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds.
Final performance will be live streamed across Shanghai and stage@leeds at the end of August 2021.